1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying apparatus utilizing a recording technology such as an electrophotographic process or an electrostatic recording process, and a fixing apparatus adapted to be mounted on such apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a printer is usually provided, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-226146, with a pair of rollers for guiding a recording material, having passed a fixing device, to a discharge tray. Such paired rollers may assume a form of “a single roller extended in a direction of a generatrix” provided on a rotary shaft, both in a roller coming into contact with a front surface of the recording material and a roller coming into contact with a rear surface of the recording material, or plural short rollers in the direction of generatrix on a rotary shaft, both in a roller coming into contact with a front surface of the recording material and a roller coming into contact with a rear surface of the recording material.
However, in either form, there is encountered a drawback that a conveying operation of the recording material under a pinching pressure uniform in a direction of width (direction perpendicular to a conveying direction) tends to induce a waviness or an undulation of the recording material (FIGS. 8A and 8B).
Also, a front corner of the recording material may be folded or dog-eared depending on an entry state of the recording material into the paired rollers (FIGS. 8A and 8B), and such folding need to be avoided.